Method of extracting albumin and sugar from milk whey



Patented Jan. 6, 1931 or rmmsnvma l METHOD ALBUIIN AND SUGAR FROM MILKWHEY No Drawing.

My present invention relates to a methodpf extracting albumin and milksugar from m lk whey whereby I am able to salvage from milk whey twoprinci al food-products contained in it, namely ,al umin and milk sugar,and produce a product which is substantially free of the heavy saltspresent in milk whey including calcium salts," phosphates and phos-.

phites, My v final, product,v by reason of the absence of said;sa1ts,-ca n be readily dissolved in water to form a solution that canbe whipped to form a light standin froth pr meringue similar to thatwhich is o tained by theuse of white of egg and is, therefore, anexcellent substitute for baking purposes. 1 KL M p u My invention alsocontemplates removal of any slightly bitter aftertaste of the finalproduct, which might otherwise occur when usingsomeety es of wheydue totraces o salts such as phosphites 7 remaining in the,

a1 p.roduct- I v I Generally speaking my method consists in mixing witmilk whey a small percentage of properly s'laked hydrate of lime,-

the m xture t :dilld nt M Pa do s, the bottom one, of which is of ,;aicreamy consis tenqy wh l the supe n ant vi b-aw tially clear;,.ajndthen drawing of! the supe'rs a ant 'o ti nssion aini gl a bu n'a ilk tmnteq n; begth ek d Lby; P t l evaporation "or may be evaporated to,dryness,

The {product so'pbtained is readily soluble in water and when beatenforms-alight; stand; ingf. frbthf, resembling-the frothl of- .white Leof eggs To a-voidany objectionable :flavor: IQIE);

the r finer product iloccuririg with; someitype's of whey whemn'sing theabove rh'ethod water 21 pounds erab'ly; header; terness or obj ecti"tiie rod phosphates and phosphites may i A' white allowing and an gapApplication filed u a, 1929. Serial no. 855,867.

referabl before the division of the mixture is allowe to take place.

, More particularly stated, my method of ex; 7

.tracting milk albumin and sugar from milkwhey containing undesirablecalcium vsalts,

as follows: To 100 parts by wei ht of milk whey add 3 to 4parts byweight 0 hydrate of lime prepared by slaking quick-lime with the i Ismallest amount of water, as prescribed in be described U. S; P.specifications. 1 to 2 percent of f nitrate of potash is added to thewhey, this addition being efiective in converting the c phosphitespresent in the whey to phosphates I v which in this form are readilyprecipitated in the subsequent hydrate of lime treatment. The hydrate oflime should be; stirred into the stirring. continued for at least threeminutes.

continued, until ,from 50 to percent. 9

been mostly brokenn up; and have become dis solved in thislimesolutionii Upon discon the stirring and as soon as the first 'frothinghas $llbS1dBd, any,- foa m remain: f, sugar which can be used, withoutfurther s in t p'shb ldl bejp ompt1yv removed being left tosettle,.thertwo solutionsm comprising the mixture will gradually sepa-:5

,ratefowing to their difl 'erent specific gravity Y' ns, he, b tfi ingii n on ining the heavy. Salts bi ..1a;. r. y iQn t y+- r e aiitnebieingubstan ial y ,i i 'h represent item about on wheycontaining thenitrate of potash and the a I the omgmala'mount of whey has been added,7 i p fluid is thus obtained which is l 5 ';reallya mixture of twosolutions, namely, 'an albuminsugar solution and a lime solutionZcarrying the undesir-able;- salts which ,have

fifth 9 on thequ n i y frwh'ey- ,d,, vvhich isgv th milk whey must nothave been heated prior to treatment by my method to a temperaturecorporation of the nitrate of potash into the I latter. As, describedbefore, the water is added slowly after the hydrate of lime has beenthoroughly beaten into the whey for a few minutes.

Whether the nitrate of potash is used or not, the whey and the watershould both be, preferably, very cold and it is desirable that the wheyshould be in as clean a condition as possible.

It is noted that the addition of water in either of the two cases oftreatment for removal of objectionable aftertaste of the final product,namely the treatment by water alone and the treatment by both thenitrate of potash and the water, brings about a quicker separation ofthe two solutions in the mixture and furthermore produces a whiter driedproduct. This addition of water does not in- A crease to any appreciableextent the clear supernatant fluid which contains the milk albumin andsu ar but gives the hydrate of lime a greater reedom to thoroughlycombine with the salts, acids and gases present in the whey.

As the amount of gases, salts and acids present in various types of milkwhey differ somewhat, the quantity of hydrate of lime best suited to thecarrying out of my method should be first determined by test. As a rule,hydrate of lime to the amount of 4 percent by weight of the whey will befound by this test to be suificient and in some cases 3 or 3 percentwill be enough.

In carrying out my method, it is essential that the mixture oft e twosolutions thereby obtained'be given suflicient time to separate in ordertosalvage all, or substantially all, of the albumin contained in thewhey. When using either the water treatment or both the water andnitrate of potash treatmentas a remedy for objectionable flavor of thefinal product, a period of less than 24 hours will be adequate in somecases to effect complete separatlon of the two solutions, after whichtime the supernatant solution should be drawn ofi' "carefully to avoiddrawing off with it any portion of the creamy bottom fluid.- Any crustforming during the period of separation should be carefully removed.

The fluid obtained by my method which milk sugar from milk whe tionwhich like the original liquid may be whipped to form a li ht froth ormeringue.

As sugar is used with white of egg 1n most if not all baking purposes,the presence of milk sugar in my product is not only objectionable, butis actually desirable.

Having thus described my invention what claim is:

1. The method of extracting albumin and milk sugar from milk whe; whichconsists in preparing a mixture 0 Whey, a small amount of nitrateof'potash and hydrate of lime, allowing the resulting solution toseparate into two portions of different specific gravity, and separatingthe supernatant portion containing albumin and milk sugar.

2. The method of extracting albumin and which consists in preparing amixture 0 whey, a small amount of nitrate of potash, hydrate of lime anda substantial amount of water, allowing the resulting solution toseparate into two portions of different specific gravity, and separatingthe supernatant portion containing albumin and milk sugar.

3. The method of extracting albumin and milk sugar from milk whey whichconsists in preparing a mixture of Whey, a small amount of hydrate oflime and a substantial amount of Water, allowing the resulting solutionto separate into two portions of different speci c gravity, andseparating the supernatant portion containing albumin and milk sugar.'

4. The method of extracting albumin and milk sugar from milk whey whichconsists in preparing a mixture of whey, a small amount of nitrate ofpotash, hydrate of lime and a substantial amount of water, allowing theresulting solution to separate into tWo portions of different specificgravity, separating the supernatant portion, and evaporating the latterto a crystalline product containing albumin and milk sugar.

5. The method of extracting albumin and milk sugar from milk whey whichconsists in preparing a mixture of whey, hydrate of lime and asubstantial amount of water, allowing the resulting solution to separateinto two portions of different specific gravity, separatng thesupernatant ortion and evaporating the latter to a crysta line productcontaining albumin and milk sugar.

6. The method of extracting albumin and H111]! sugar from milk wheywhich consists in adding a small amount of nitrate of potash to thewhey, mixing hydrate oflime with the whey containing said nitrate ofpotash,

slowly adding a substantial amount of water manna to the resultingmixture while'stirring the latter, allowing the resulting solution toseparate into a heavycreamy portion and a supernatant substantiallyclear portion, and separating the latter portion containing albin andmilk sugar.

7. The method of extracting albumin and milk su ar from milk whey whichconsists in mixing ydrate of limerwith the whey, slowly adding asubstantial amount of water to the resulting mixture while stirring thelatter, allowing the resulting solution to separate into a eavy creamyportion and a supernatant substantially clearportion, and separating thelatter portion containing albumin and milk sugar.

8. The method of extracting albumin and milk sugar from milk whey whichconsists in adding 1 to 2% of nitrate of potash to the whey, mixingabout 3 to 4% b weight of hydrate of lime with the whey, s owly adding asubstantial amount of water to the resulting mixture while stirring thelatter, allowing the resulting solution to separate into a heavy creamyportion and a supernatant substantially clear portion, and separatingthe latter portion containing albumin and milk sugar.

9. The method ofextracting albumin and milk sugar from milk whey whichconsists in mixing about 3 to 4% by weight of hydrate of lime with thewhey, slowly adding a substantial amount of water to the resultingmixture while stirring the latter, allowing the resulting solution toseparate into a hea creamy portion and a. supernatant substantiallyclear portion, and separating the latter portion containing albumin andmilk sugar.- Y

i In testimon whereof, I have afli'xed mysignature to t is seci'fication.

ELIZAB TH MARY MEYER.

